How it Works

• A webmaster types codes into a plain text editor and saves the file as an ".html" file for a browser to read and interpret. HTML allows you to complete tasks like bolding or underlining text, as well as specify the alignment of page elements. You can either write the codes from scratch, or use a program that generates the HTML code for you based on your graphical input.
  
  

Tags

• HTML tags are set apart from the other text in a document by the "<" and ">" symbols. For example, if you want to write a sentence in bolded text, you would introduce the text with "<STRONG>," then write the sentence, then close the tag to return to plain text by closing the HTML using "</STRONG>." The tags are identified as either "start and end" or "opening and closing" tags.
  
  

Types of Markup

• HTML has multiple types of markup. The structural markup describes the purpose of the text in a page, such as a header or the body of the document. The presentational markup tells the browser how to display text to the viewer. With the evolving standards established by the W3C, many presentation elements of HTML have been deprecated in favor of CSS. Hypertext markup links the page to other documents and does not have a closing tag or content, but includes attributes.
  
  

Versions

• The latest version, at the time of article publishing, is HTML 4.0, which has three variations, including strict, transitional and frameset. The strict format is ideal and best to use when creating new documents. Those updating older documents that conformed to older HTML standards should use frameset and transitional for more leeway with adhering to style regulations. Both frameset and transitional formats allow creators to use presentational elements, while the strict format requires using CSS for design elements.